Report: Older PlayStation 3 consoles struggling with L.A. Noire

Looks like the old, fat PlayStation 3 may need a bit of a run up to handle L.A. Noire's furious power.

Users reports from all over the web suggest a small number of 60 GB and 80 GB model PS3 users are experiencing freezing, crashing and console shut downs after playing the Team Bondi epic for extended periods.

The issue is said to be related to overheating, and may be presaged by three beeps.

A post on the Rockstar Social Club support forums suggested the recent 3.61 firmware update as a culprit, but Rockstar has moved or deleted the post since we harvested it.

"Primary reports seem to be that updating to firmware 3.61 will cause PlayStations to overheat. There have been various reports of this on a few different games now, all reporting their PS3s turning off or 'Red Lighting' after having installed 3.61.

"This can range from games randomly freezing to PS3s turning off anywhere between 30 mins use to two hours. We have confirmed locally that multiple games (Rockstar and non-Rockstar) overheat or freeze only when 3.61 is installed."

Rockstar promised further updates on the matter, but also asked users to contact Sony directly.

Sony hasn't made an official reply yet, but before you go cursing the update, remember that older PS3's struggled a bit with the fanciest new games well before the new firmware was conceived of. See: Uncharted 2, which I personally can play for 20 minutes at a time except in the dead of winter.

Thanks, minxamo.